Coin selecting and testing mechanism



Dec. 29, 1964 W. A. RQUNSIVELL COIN SELECTING AND TESTING MECHANISM Filed NOV. 5, 1962 Inventor WILFRED ARTHUR ROUNSIVELL Attor riey United StatesPatent C) F 3,163,278 CGIN SELECTING AND TESTING WCHANISM Wilfred Arthur Rounslvell, Thornton Heath, Surrey, England, assignor to Fisher & Ludlow Lir'mted, Birmingham, England, a llritish company Filed Nov. 5, 1962, er. No. 235,255 6 Claims. (Cl. 194-97) This invention relates to coin selecting and testing mechanism and has for its object to provide such a mechanism which is capable of dealing with polygonal coins.

The polygonal coins handled by mechanism according to the invention are those having a regular polygonal form and a sufiicient number of sides to enable the coins to roll by gravity down a gentle slope (e.g. of the order of or to the horizontal) or along a horizontal runway provided an initial impetus is given the. coin, aided if necessary by any radiusing of the coins corners around the perimeter should the coin be so designed. The mechanism is particularly applicable to the l2-sided threepenny pieces of the British currency but can be employed for selecting and testing other polygonal coins which may be introduced in the future or in use in foreign currencies. The British dodecagonal threepenny .pieces roll quite easily as aforesaid, as also will coins having a lesser number of sides possibly down to octagonal if suitably radiused at the corners, but polygonal coins having a still lesser number of sides, e.g. triangular, square, and probably hexagonal coins could not be dealt with '(or the latter with extreme difliculty and generous radiusing of corners) by the invention. I

Coin testing and selecting mechanism for ,polygona coins according to the invention including a pair of racks adapted to lie during the testing disposition in parallel one above the other in a substantially vertical plane so as to form a runway therebetween for the coins, teeth formed on each of said racks, the racks being spaced apart (as measured between the respective tooth tip lines) a distancesubstantially equal to the diameter of a circle tangential to the peripheral flats of the coin under test, the pitch of the teeth on each rack being substantially equal to the length of one of the perimetrical flats of the coin, and the teeth of one rack being staggered in relation to those of the other to locate the teeth on one opposite the space between teeth on the other. The said circle which is tangential to the perimetrical flats of the coin is, for convenience, referred to herein as the flats circle..

The term rack is intended to embrace mechanical equivalents in which the line of teeth are replaced by other elements. For example, a line of horizontal pins, parallel to one another may serve the purpose of the teeth-edges, and may be regarded as the tooth tips. Thus such an equivalent of a rack may be likened to a ladder with short rungs (i.e. the parallel pins), with the spaces between the rungs representing the depressions between the teeth. The depth of the teeth from tip to root circle is not critical so long as it is at least equal to the distance between a circle around the angular points of the coin and the flats circle. The function of the depressions between the teeth is simply to provide a clearance for the reception of the coins perimetrical points as the coin rolls by its flats contacting and pivoting on the tooth tips or equivalent.

While the racks or equivalent are stated to be disposed one above the other in a. substantially vertical plane, it is to be understood that this includes a' slight tilt out of the'vertical plane (of the order of 4 or 5) to enable -unrlersize coins to fall through a reject window in one of a pair of spacedapart walls between-which the pair of testing racks are mounted.

Patented ee. 29, 1964 thestructure 12 on a substantially vertical axis 14 so as to be capable of opening away from base plate 11 to clear any coins which may have been held up therebetween during test. The clearing plate 13 is spring-urged '(as shown at 15) into its closed position and means are introduced to open it from the exterior of the machine within which the mechanism is mounted a requisite distance away from base plate 11 when it is required to free any coins held up between plates 11 and 13 so that they fall into a reject chute 16. i

The runway 10 includes a plate or rib '17 fixed to base plate T1 to make a ledge 18 along the upper edge of which rib a coin can roll; in the present instance the edge of rib 17 is wide-enough to take threepenny piece. The

upper edge of ledge 18 lies at an angle of about 10 to the horizontal and includes on its upper or running surface a V-tooth rack formation 19 having a pitch equal to thelength of one of the sides of the twelve-sided threepenny piece. On clearing plate 13 a second rack Zll is secured with its teeth 21 facing downwards and rack 20 is so disposed that, when clearing plate Bis inthe closed position (which is what has been termed the testing disa 7 position of the parts) it makes up a pair with the rack 17 lying parallel thereto and spaced away therefrom a distance substantially equal to the diameter of the flats circle of a threepenny piece. This spacing is measured between the respective lines of tooth tips. The depth of the teeth between the tooth tip line and the root line is, as previously stated, at least equal to the distance between a circle around the points of the polygonal coin and the concentric flats circle. The lower rack 17 has five or six teeth, and upper rack 29 three which lie over the last three of lower rack 17 but staggered in relation thereto.

The ledge 18 has a short plain untoothed length 21" along which the coins run before entering the area between racks 17 and 20 which is conveniently termed herein the testing area. Coins enter the chute 22 leading to the space between base plate 11 and clearing plate .13 eventually fall onto plain part 21 of runway lllthereupon commencing to roll towards the testing area; They first meet the few teeth 19 'on lower rack'17 which are uncovered by upper rack 20 and this assists in positioning the coin in relation to the rack teeth, during its rolling movement, so that its flats and points are in optimum attitude for the commencement of the rollingtest through the testing area, i.e. where the teeth constrain the coins to roll with their flats engaging midway of their respective lengths each in succession on teeth followingone another and their points projecting into the space between the rack teeth. Y

It will be clear that spuriouspolygonal coins which are smaller than that of said flats circle.

when clearing plate 13 is closed The upper edgeof window 23 is spaced from the said bottom edge a distance less than the diameter of a circle circumscribing the points of a threepenny piece. A wing 24 is pressed out from the bottom edge to form a pocket on the exterior of clearing plate 13. The mechanism lies over out of the vertical a fewrd egrees so that undersize coins which do not have the support of the upper edge of window 23 topple out of window 23 and are left leaning against the pocket wing 24 in readiness for discharge into reject chute 16 when clearing plate 13 isopened. The base plate 11 is also cut away at 25 opposite window 23 so that the poles of a permanent magnet 26 mounted on the outside of base plate 11 will be in alignment with the rolling coins, and thus trap magnetic coins. To clear these off the poles of magnet 25 a screen 27 of nonmagnetic material is formed on the inside of clearing plate 13 so that when the clearing plate 13 is closed screen 27 lies across the poles of magnet 26 and magnetic coins are attracted by magnet 26 through screen 27.

Any other position and arrangement of the undersize coin window may be adopted. Forfl exampleit could be disposed at the clearing area with its top serrated in conformity with the racks but with narrower spacing between the two racks, when the clearing plate is closed.

Thin coins, i.e. thinner than a threepenny piece are rejected by thinning the part 21 of ledge 18 of the runway before it reaches the testing area. The thin edge 21 of runway ,10 in combination with the two walls formed by base plate 11 and clearing plate 12 is suflicient to support a correct thickness of coin but coins having no more'thickness than the part 21 of ledge 18 which has been cut away will drop through the slot so made;

either to reject chute 16 or to further tests. Thus pennies would fall through and proceed to further tests applicable to pence, if the threepenny piece mechanism is to be combined with pence testing mechanism in a multicoin device.

What I thenclaim is: a

1. A coin testing and selecting mechanism for regula polygonal coins having an even number of sides in excess of six including a first lower rack having upwardly extending teeth and a second upper rack having downwardly extending teeth adapted to lie', during.the testing disposition, in parallel one above the other in a substantially vertical plane so as to form a runway therebetween for the coins, along which a c'orrect coin may pass by pivoting about the points of contact between its flats and the tooth tips of the first lower rack, the racks being spaced apart (as measured between the respective tooth tip lines) a distance substantially equal to the diameter of a circle tangential to the perimetrical flatsv of the coin under test, the pitch of the teeth on each rack being substantially equal to the length of one of the perimetrical-flats of the coin, and the teeth ofone rack being staggered in relation to those of the other to locatethe teeth in one opposite the spaces between teeth on the other. e

2. A cointesting and selecting mechanism according to claim 1 including a base plate to which the firstrack is fixed and a clearing plate to which the second rack is .fixed, the clearing plate being pivoted to the base plate on a substantially vertical axis so as to be capable of opening away from the base plate to clear any coins held up between the plates during testing. a

3. A coin testing and selecting mechanism for regular polygonal coins having an even number of sides in excess of six including a base plate and a clearing plate pivoted together on a substantially vertical axis and adapted to be closed together, spring means disposed on the pivotal axis so as to open the clearing plate way from the base plateto clear any coins held between the plates during 7 testing, a pair of toothed racks, a first lower rack fixed to the base plate and a second upper rack fixed to the clearing plate and adapted to lie, during the testing disposition, in parallel one above the other in a substan-- tially vertical plane so as to form a runway therebetween for the coins, the racks being spaced apart (as measured between the respective tooth tip lines) a distance substantially equal to the diameter of a circle tangential to the perimetrical'flats of the coin under test, the pitch of the teeth on eachrack being substantially equal to the length of one of the perimetrical flatsof the coin, and the teeth of one rack being staggered in relation to those of the other to locate the teeth on one opposite the spaces be tween teeth on the other. e

4. In a coin operated machine a coin testing and selecting mechanism for regular polygonal coins having an even number of sides in excess of six including a base plate and a clearing plate pivoted together on a substantially vertical axis and adapted to be closed together, means for opening the clearing plate away from the base plate from the exterior of the machine within which the mechanism is mounted, a pair of racks, a first lower rack fixed to the base plate and a second upper rack fixed to the clearing plate and adapted to lie, during the testing disposition, in parallel one above the other in a substantially vertical plane so as to form a runway therebetween for the coins, teeth formed on each of said racks, the racks being spaced apart (as measured between the re spective tooth tip lines) a distance substantially equal to the diameter of a circle tangential to the perimetrical flats of the coin under test, the pitch of the teeth on each rack being substantially equal to the length of one of the perimetrical flats of the coin, and the teeth of one rack being staggered in relation to those of the other to locate the teeth'on one opposite the spaces between teeth on the other. I

5. A mechanism for testing British dodecagonal coins including a pair of racks adapted to lie during the testing disposition in parallel one above the other in a substantially vertical plane so as to form a runway therebetween for the coins, teeth formed on each of said racks, the racks being spaced apart (as measured between the respective tooth tip lines) a distance substantially equal to the diameter of a circle tangential to the perimetrical flats of the coin under test, the pitch of the teeth on each rack being substantially equal to the length of one of the perimetrical flats of the coin, and the lower rack being formed with at least five teeth and the upper rack with three teeth which lie in staggered relation to the last three teeth of the lower rack.

6. A coin testing and selecting mechanism for regular polygonal coins having an even number of sides in excess of six including a base plate and a clearing plate pivoted. together on a substantially vertical axis and adapted to be closed together spring means for opening the clearing plate away from the base plate to clear any coins'held between the plates during testing, a pair of racks, a first lower rack fixed to the base plate and a second upper rack fixed to the clearing plate, the racks being adapted to lie, during the testing disposition, one above the other. in a substantially vertical plane so as to' form a runway therebetween for the coins, teeth formed on part of the lower side of the upper rack and on part of the upper side of the lower rack so as to form an untoothed length on the lower rack along which the coin runs be-,

fore entering the testing area between the teeth of said racks a reject chute for clearing spurious coins which do not pass through the testing area, the racks being spaced apart measured between the respective tooth tip lines) a distance substantially equal to the diameter of a circle tangential to the perimetrical flats of the coin under test, the pitch of the teeth on each rack being substantially equal to the length of one of the perimetrical flats of the coin, the teeth of one rack being staggered in relation to those of the other to locate the teeth on one opposite the spaces between teeth on the other and the untoothed length of the first lower rack being of lesser width than the toothed part of the rack so that thin coins drop through a slot to the reject chute.

References Cited inthe file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Vogel Nov. 27, 1934 Hokanson Mar. 13, 1951 Patzer Sept. 8, 1953 Haverstick Feb. 4, 1958 FOREIGN PATENTS Great Britain Feb. 17, 1925 

1. A COIN TESTING AND SELECTING MECHANISM FOR REGULAR POLYGONAL COINS HAVING AN EVEN NUMBER OF SIDES IN EXCESS OF SIX INCLUDING A FIRST LOWER RACK HAVING UPWARDLY EXTENDING TEETH AND A SECOND UPPER RACK HAVING DOWNWARDLY EXTENDING TEETH ADAPTED TO LIE, DURING THE TESTING DISPOSITION, IN PARALLEL ONE ABOVE THE OTHER IN A SUBSTANTIALLY VERTICAL PLANE SO AS TO FORM A RUNWAY THEREBETWEEN FOR THE COINS, ALONG WHICH A CORRECT COIN MAY PASS BY PIVOTING ABOUT THE POINTS OF CONTACT BETWEEN ITS FLATS AND THE TOOTH TIPS OF THE FIRST LOWER RACK, THE RACKS BEING SPACED APART (AS MEASURED BETWEEN THE RESPECTIVE TOOTH TIP LINES) A DISTANCE SUBSTANTIALLY EQUAL TO THE DIAMETER OF A CIRCLE TANGENTIAL TO THE PERIMETRICAL FLATS OF THE COIN UNDER TEST, THE PITCH OF THE TEETH ON EACH RACK BEING SUBSTANTIALLY EQUAL TO THE LENGTH OF ONE OF THE PERIMETRICAL FLATS OF THE COIN, AND THE TEETH OF ONE RACK BEING STAGGERED IN RELATION TO THOSE OF THE OTHER TO LOCATE THE TEETH IN ONE OPPOSITE THE SPACES BETWEEN TEETH ON THE OTHER. 